Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1989 to 1991!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

Welcome back to Degrassi Hiiiiiiiiiiiigh!

Episode 1.12 “Natural Attraction”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 23rd, 1990)

This week’s episode of Degrassi High centers around the Farrell twins.  I always have a bit of an issue with the Farrell twin episodes because I can never remember which one had the abortion and, beyond that, they’re really not that interesting as characters.  I know that one is more talkative than other and that the one who didn’t have an abortion ended up making out with Wheels at a party.  But again, personality-wise, they’re both kind of boring characters.

Anyway, this week, Erica is dating an 11th grader who reminds her of the boy who impregnated her over the summer.  (“Who does he remind me of?”  “Kyle, from the summer.”  “Oh yeah!”)  Heather is concerned that Erica is going to get pregnant again and they’re going to have to take another trip to the abortion clinic and once again run into that old woman with plastic fetus doll.  Erica doesn’t think her abortion was that big of a deal but it haunts Heather, who feels that she took part in a murder by accompanying Erica to the clinic.

And I will say this.  Particularly when compared to the way Degrassi: The Next Generation and Netflix Degrassi dealt with the issue of abortion, Degrassi High deserved a lot of credit for treating both sides fairly.  No one — whether they agree with Erica’s decision or not — is reduced to being a caricature on this show and that’s something that I personally appreciate.  That doesn’t necessarily make the Farrell twins any more interesting than they were before but even that feels like a good move on the show’s part.  Not everyone who has an abortion is interesting.  Sometimes, they’re kind of boring and have a habit of glaring at anyone who talks to their twin.

As for the rest of this episode, I’m going to guess that the show’s “stars” must have been on vacation because it’s pretty much dominated by students who usually don’t get storylines.  Dorothy (Annabella Waugh) encourages her friend Tessa Campanelli (Kirsten Bourne) to ask Scooter to the school dance.  This is the first episode to give Tessa storyline and, while it’s not much of a story, it is interesting for those of us who know the important role that Tessa is going to eventually play in the history of Degrassi.  As for Scooter, he doesn’t know how to slow dance so his friend Bart teaches him.

Meanwhile, Alison (Sara Holmes) and Amy (Jacy Hunter) get into a fight over the fact that Amy is going to the dance with Snake, despite the fact that Alison used to like Snake.  They end up getting into a big argument and throwing all of the clothes that they’ve borrowed from each other all over the girl’s restroom.  I could relate because, going to high school with my sister one grade above me, we certainly had our fights and arguments about …. well, exactly the same thing that Alison and Amy were fighting about.  But, at the same time, this is really the first episode in which Alison and Amy have been major characters.  I like that Degrassi High was an ensemble show but there were definitely times when the show would suddenly push a character into the spotlight without giving the audience any opportunities to get to know the character ahead of time.  For instance, I had totally forgotten that Alison liked Snake.  Doesn’t she knows that Snake is destined to marry Spike?

Next week, Joey discovers he has a learning disability!